Imo to shite futari tsukurishi waga shima wa kodakaku shigeku narinikeru kamo

妹としてふたり作りし我が山斎は
木高く茂くなりにけるかも

Roma-ji: Imo to shite futari tsukurishi waga shima wa kodakaku shigeku narinikeru kamo
English Translation: Together with her,
the two of us made it so—
this garden of mine,
its trees have grown tall and thick,
so deep and dense they have become.
Meaning: The garden my wife and I made together—its trees have grown tall and thick.
Commentary: Book Three Elegies 452

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three poems composed at once on returning to the house in the old home"
This is the second of the three poems composed on returning home. The garden he made with his wife has grown tall and thick during his years in Tsukushi—he thinks of the time that has passed and of the absence of the wife who made it with him. The growth of the trees quietly shows the passage of time since their parting.
The three poems composed on returning home are a sequence in which Tabito, back at his house in Nara, grieves at the home and garden without his wife. The headnote gives no author's name, but they continue the preceding five poems and are Tabito's work.
The poet, Ōtomo no Tabito, was a son of Ōtomo no Yasumaro. He served as Middle Counselor and Governor-General of Dazaifu before rising to Great Counselor, and died in Tenpyō 3 (731). Steeped in Chinese letters, he was at the center of a poetic circle with Yamanoue no Okura and others while serving in Tsukushi.

First line "Together with her" means with his wife.
Second line "the two of us made it so" means made by the two of them.
Third line "this garden of mine": shima is a landscaped garden with pond and artificial hills.
Fourth line "its trees have grown tall and thick" describes the growth.
Fifth line "so deep and dense they have become": nikeru gives completion and past, and kamo expresses feeling for the years gone by.
Author: Ōtomo no Tabito
Source: Manyoshu
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